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| Report on Understaffing in Federal Prisons Misses the Point: Focus on Reformation, not Incapacitation and Repression |
| By huffingtonpost.com- Christopher Zoukis |
| Published: 01/08/2016 |
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Earlier this month NBC Washington's News4 I-Team conducted an investigation into understaffing in federal prisons. The investigation, which was based on an in-depth analysis of congressional records and FOIA requests, found that while the Bureau of Prisons has increased staffing levels since 2005, that most federal prisons are operating at 10 percent below the recommended staffing levels. This understaffing, says union spokesperson Sommer Roy, results in federal prison guards being vulnerable to inmate assaults both in the mornings and in the evenings. The figures are somewhat surprising for a federal agency with a budget of approximately $7 billion a year. According to the report, federal prisons within the Bureau's Mid-Atlantic Region are authorized to employ a total of 7,373 employees, but only have 6,803 slots filled. This, according to union officials, results in an increase in inmate-on-guard violence, such as the death of USP Canaan housing unit officer Eric Williams in 2013. In response to the report, a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson noted, "Actual staffing levels have never been 100 percent." The spokesperson clarified, "Staffing levels in the Mid-Atlantic [Region] are consistent with other regions in the Bureau of Prisons." As a result of this increasing violence in federal prisons, Union officials and Pennsylvania lawmakers have advanced the idea of arming prison guards to keep them safe while on the job. Senator Bob Casey, a democrat from Pennsylvania, co-sponsored a bill which would permit many prison staffers to be armed with pepper spray. According to Casey, "Guards face thousands of assaults every year, so it's important we give them the necessary tools to stay safe on the job." Read More. |
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